


Sticks and Stones

by BornToFly02



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bat Family, Bisexual Dick Grayson, Gotham Academy, Haly's Circus, News, Protective Bruce Wayne, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Jason Todd, Protective Tim Drake, Romani Dick Grayson, Social Media, Trapeze
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:01:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornToFly02/pseuds/BornToFly02
Summary: As soon as Dick Grayson was adopted by Bruce Wayne, he was thrust into the spotlight of public scrutiny. He got used to it, the judgements, the insults, the threats. But with each new brother, it came up again as each struggled to handle this new world.Or the bat brothers not understanding why Dick won’t do anything about what’s said about him.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Comments: 40
Kudos: 1189





	1. Dick/Intro

Dick Grayson was only eight years old when his parents died. Eight years old when he spent two months in juvie due to a racist social worker. Eight years old when he was taken in by billionaire Bruce Wayne. He didn’t have a cell phone or much access to electronics. Not that he really cared for them anyway. Living in the circus all his life up to that point, the child was more interested in the gymnastics equipment Bruce had set up for him in one of the larger rooms of the mansion.

Unfortunately, prejudice is common and there are many ways for it to spread.

It was at breakfast, the second week he was there, that Dick saw the results of the prejudice against his culture. His mother's culture. Bruce hadn’t come down yet and a newspaper was lying innocently on the table.

Picking it up, Dick saw Bruce’s name and started to read. His English was quite rough due to his upbringing, many people in the circus spoke Romani, Russian, and Bulgarian, sometimes French, and they passed through many different countries where he picked up bits and pieces, but he wasn’t so bad at the language that he didn’t see it. His hands started to shake and his sight blurred the farther into the article he got. Poor impoverished circus boy, living in squalor (whatever that meant, he didn’t think it was good), Gypsy...

Bruce arrived to a crying boy clutching a crumpled paper. When he crouched next to the chair, big blue eyes stared at him.

"Why? Why do they say this?"

Bruce looked at the paper and sighed, prying it out of clawed hands before pulling his new ward into his lap.

"Because people are cruel and don't know how to handle new things. New people. New cultures. And as much as we may wish for acceptance and understanding, we can't force people to be kind."

Dick buried his head into the billionaire's shoulder until the tears stopped and Alfred brought in tea and cookies. 

It wasn't the last time the Romani child cried over the cruelty of his peers but he learned to ignore them. He preserved the connection to his heritage by teaching Bruce and Alfred about the culture. Both men became fluent in the language, and they became accustomed to the inclusion of traditional Romani foods in their diet.

When Dick befriended Barbara Gordon, he taught her the language as well and they would use it whenever they wanted to have "secret conversations". Dick spoke with a slight accent due to his continued use of his mother tongue and it got him a fair amount of negative attention or worse, pity, but he refused to allow it to affect him. These connections saved memories he had of his mother teaching him as a child. 

So even though he butchered the English language a tad (not that it made much sense to him anyway) he ignored all the jeers and the torment and the insults. After all, the ones who scorned him for his heritage, didn't matter anyway.

He only wished each of his brothers would understand that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to say, Gypsy is a derogatory term for the Romani people. Now I'm not an expert by any stretch but what I do know is that the Romani people are nomadic, their language has not been recorded and they have been persecuted as their nomadic lifestyle means that they don't tend to have steady paying jobs or singular homes so they don't pay taxes
> 
> If I have said something incorrect and/or offensive here, it is not my intent to be disrespectful. Please let me know what is wrong and I will do my best to fix it.
> 
> I may update this at a later date if I can make the time to do further research and I encourage others to do the same. (Research, not editing my notes)


	2. Jason Todd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living in Crime Alley, if someone hits you, you hit back harder. It’s the only way to survive.
> 
> Of course now apparently that's not "appropriate" for Jason as a member of "high society".

Jason came to live at Wayne Manor with a chip on both his shoulders. He’d been living on the streets for a while so he’d developed quite the suite of mental armour. Of course it was armour made of raw nerves that set him off into a violent defensive mode at any perceived slight. In Crime Alley when someone hits you, you hit them back harder.

Sadly this tactic was no use in the high society of Gotham.

He was made to understand that with stupid things like press and galas, he was expected to smile and be polite but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why.

Being taken in by a billionaire meant the Jason got a bunch of stuff he never would've gotten had he stayed on the streets (at least not legally). He got a brand new laptop and a cell phone. There was a TV in his room as well as some awesome speakers and game systems.

Much as Dick once was, Jason got swept up in the cool new toys that came with getting a rich guardian but it was only a matter of time before he took note of what was being said.

He was wandering the halls when he heard some noise from Dick’s room.

_“...nother child, this time a child plucked right off our very own streets.”_

_“Yes, it is so wonderful to see a member of Gotham’s elite taking an interest in the wellbeing of this city’s children. And while some wondered at the choice to take in the Gypsy child a few years ago, Mr. Wayne has proven an amazing guardian to set children onto the right path. Helping them become successful, well-adjusted, and useful members of society.”_

_“Yes, while many believed that taking in young Richard Grayson was simply a publicity stunt...”_

Jason poked his head into the acrobat’s room to find the news playing on the television while the older boy stared blankly into space, elbows braced on his knees.

“Dick?”

There was a sniff as Dick grabbed the remote and turned off the TV where the news had been showing a photo of Bruce and Jason walking side-by-side down the sidewalk and an eight year old Dick Grayson, in his circus leotard being held by the billionaire. When he turned to face his new adoptive brother, there was the usual bright smile on his face.

“Hey Jaybird, what are you doing?”

“What’re they talking about? What’s Gypsy mean?”

Dick flinched at the words causing the frown on Jason’s face to deepen.

“It’s nothing Jay. Just something people say when they don’t understand.”

“Don’t understand what? Why’d they call you that? Obviously it ain’t very nice.”

The older boy’s smile became a little more stiff than usual.

“It’s fine Jay. Just leave it alone.”

With a pat on the head, Dick moved past the younger boy for the gym. It was apparent he was done with the subject. Jason however, was not.

That night when he went back to his room, Jason made a beeline for his computer.

Opening the search engine, he simply typed in ‘Gypsy’ and started reading.

The more he read, the angrier he got. Opening a new tab, he looked up articles that had been written in the past few days. It started with stupid soppy ones about him being saved. Brought in from the cold, dangerous streets of Gotham by the benevolent billionaire playboy turned philanthropist. Then they shifted.

They talked about Dick and his origins. They spoke of the Romani people like they were criminals, dregs of society, and made it seem as though children like Dick needed to be “saved” from living in such poor conditions. Completely ignoring the fact that they were talking about an entire culture. It took Jason one Google search to find that “Gypsy” was a derogatory term. These articles were written by adults. It only heightened his contempt for authority.

Over the next few days, he watched his new brother. There was a bright smile on his face every morning when he came down for breakfast. He brought home the highest marks in his class.

Maybe a week later, Bruce and Jason went to pick up Dick from school as they needed to get Jason registered at Gotham Academy. Walking through the halls, the “street rat” withheld a sneer at all the uniforms and gelled hair. Personally he thought these students looked like self-important a-holes. Then again, they probably were.

As they got closer to the main office, he saw Dick walking towards them with his friend Babs, Barbara. Jason went to wave when he noticed the dark look on the older boy’s face. It was such a strange sight that he did a double take.

“Yeah! Run away circus freak!”

“Get out of our school, dirty gypsy!”

"You shouldn't even be around people!"

A group of boys were following the pair, yelling at them.

Dick and Babs just kept walking and when the teens behind them saw Bruce, they quickly made themselves scarce.

"Hey Bruce, Jay, what're you doing here?" The last Grayson said, a bright smile having appeared on his face at the sight of them, as though nothing was wrong.

Dick sounded completely normal so Jason let him be for a bit.

"B is signing me up to go to school with these asshats."

"Jason." Bruce reprimanded lightly, knowing just how bad many of the prep kids were.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll put a quarter in the swear jar when we get back."

"Well, I've got to head home to work on my English work, 'cause this one is NO help, so I'll leave you gentlemen to it. Talk to you later, Dick." The red-head said before heading towards the front of the school.

After Bruce had successfully enrolled his newest ward at his old school, the trio left the building themselves to go back to the mansion.

Sitting in the back with Dick, Jason inspected the older boy. He seemed perfectly happy but those kids had been yelling at him in the middle of the hallway. If they had been talking to Jason, he would've decked them right then and there.

"How do you do it?" the younger boy asked quietly, drawing the attention of the blue-eyed boy.

"Do what?"

"Go to school every day. Go to your classes. Refrain from punching those dicks in the face."

"That's another quarter Little Wing."

"I heard what they said back there. How are you so okay with it?"

"I'm not!" Dick snapped before taking a breath to calm himself and collect his thoughts. "I'm not okay with it. My culture is one of the few things I have left of my parents, of my family. But no one will listen or care if I tell them that. It'd probably make it worse. People suck, but you can't control what they say or how they act. All you can control is your own reactions. I chose not to give them the satisfaction of reacting. Of proving there assumptions right."

Jason frowned but nodded, falling silent for the rest of the drive.

The next Monday when he started school, he kept his combative personality, refusing to change because of the opinions of spoiled rich kids. People called him "Street Rat" or "Charity Case". But the only times he actually got into fights, was when he heard kids talking about his older brother.

Crime Alley taught him that violence was the answer to almost any problem.  
Dick Grayson taught him that sometimes the best retaliation was to not give a reaction.  
He decided that no matter what, his family was worth giving jerks the satisfaction of him getting detention.


	3. Tim Drake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As rich as his family is, Tim Drake spent a lot of his time in a large empty house and chasing down Batman and Robin. When he is adopted by the billionaire next door (and yes he knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman) he doesn't understand why people start saying such mean things about Dick Grayson.

Tim had it all figured out. Bruce Wayne disappeared for a while and after he returned, Batman showed up. Bruce fostered Dick Grayson and soon after, Robin started accompanying the Bat around Gotham. (Of course there was more evidence but no one really wanted to here all the little details)

When Jason Todd died, and Robin disappeared, Batman became more violent. The villains started ending up unecessarily injured. Batman needed Robin, so Tim volunteered. Dick Grayson seemed quite against it but was eventually convinced otherwise but insisted on helping to train the younger boy. Only a few months later, the newest Robin's parents were killed and he was quickly taken in by the Bat.

Unlike his predecessors, Tim spent almost all of his time on news websites and the like. So as soon as he was set up in Wayne Manor, he found the articles. By this point, Dick had moved to Bludhaven and taken the name Nightwing but the first Robin was in town visiting while Tim was adopted and got used to Bruce and Alfred (Alfred was amazing but Bruce could be a bit of an acquired taste in both personas).

Tim had interacted with the young police officer/vigilante several times over the last few days and he was always kind, if a bit distant. It made sense, Jason had been dead about six months at that point and the pair seemed to have grown close before the incident. Not to mention Bruce not telling Dick about the death.

Despite the distance, Tim feels that it couldn't really hurt to ask his the first Robin about the comments and articles. Venturing out of his room, he started the search through the Manor for the police officer. It didn't take long as he checked the gym first. He'd heard that all the gymnastics equipment was put in specifically for the aerialist and sure enough, the last Grayson was flying again.

Tim watched in awe for a moment, taken back to the first time he met the other boy at the circus all those years before.

"Dick?" he started tentatively, waiting while the man dismounted from the trapeze with a move that was probably more complicated than anything seen at the Olympics.

"What's up Baby bird?"

"I- I was wondering about... the articles."

Tim couldn't even meet the other's eyes, hearing a sigh before he was lead to one of the benches lining the room.

"Tim, look at me."

Blue eyes met and the newest bat could see the sadness in Dick's eyes, and the pain that hid behind it.

"People are difficult. They don't always look at the world as it is so much as how they think it should be. These same judgments were made when Bruce first took me in, then they were brought up again when Jason came along. They could say nice things, spread facts about things like my heritage and my parents but where's the fun in that, right?"

He sounded a bit bitter at the end. Tim had to force himself to reevaluate the image he had of the first Robin in his head. The image of Nightwing. He wasn't invincible. He was human, just like Tim. Even the greatest heroes had faults.

"I'm sorry. We can't control what other people think and we just have to learn to deal with that." Dick said with an attempt at a reassuring smile.

It ended up looking more like a grimace but Tim appreciated the effort.

"Yeah, I get it." Tim said. "If you don't mind me asking... what's the politically correct term for someone of your heritage?"

Dick smiled wryly and ruffled his hair.

"Of course I don't mind. I'm Romani."

"Do you have any... traditions? Things that you do to remember them? I mean, now that you're here?

Dick inspected the young boy, remembering how his parents were always gone on some business trip or another. Tim didn't really have any traditions of his own and frankly, Dick didn't mind sharing his. It was nice to have others to know about the Romani traditions he held so dear, it was one of the first things Wally had asked about when he learned of his heritage.

"Yeah. There are a fair few." He said with a smile before leading his newest little brother from the gym.

* * *

When Tim was at Wayne Industries with Bruce for the day, they were greeted by reporters on the way out.

"Timothy! What is it like living with Bruce Wayne?"

"How are you enjoying Wayne Manor?"

"Do you miss your parents?"

"We heard that Richard Grayson has returned home, how does it feel to live in the same house as a Gypsy?"

Tim narrowed his eyes at the reporter who asked the last question, stopping in his tracks even as Bruce tried to usher him away from the crowd.

"I don't know, how does it feel to be so willfully ignorant towards other cultures?"

The reporter drew back as though she'd been struck.

"Excuse me?!"

"Oh, were you unaware of the fact that the word 'Gypsy' is a derogatory term for the Romani people? That's odd seeing as I'm fairly certain that Jason Todd was quite adamant about educating the Gotham Gazette on this subject several years ago."

Bruce made sure to pull Tim to the car before the kid could say anything else or the press could start in on his late son.

When they got home, Alfred was waiting with his infamous cookies and Dick pulled Tim into a huge hug.

"Thanks Baby Bird."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I found this article on Roma Customs, Traditions, and Beliefs:  
> https://www.livescience.com/64171-roma-culture.html 
> 
> I'm not sure how accurate it is so I decided not to actually integrate it into this chapter but if anyone is interested in reading it there you go


	4. Damian Wayne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian is the true heir of Batman. And yet... he finds the media's treatment of Grayson abhorrent. No one insults his Grayson.
> 
> No one.

Damian had known that in order to prove himself to his father, he would have to defeat the first Robin. Then, when he arrived, he found the expectations vastly different from what his mother and grandfather had lead him to believe. In fact, his father did not approve of killing at all.

Not even a little.

After the first few assassination attempts (being raised in the League of Assassins meant forgetting their rules wasn't quite an easy task), Bruce called his eldest.

Tim had already retreated to Metropolis to hang with the Supers until Bruce 'dealt with the Demon' and Jason just threatened to shoot the kid. Therefore, he turned to the kindest of his children. Arguably the most sane of his children.

The billionaire sat in his home office waiting for Dick to pick up the phone.

"Hey B, what's up? I'm kind of at work here."

"And are you enjoying your work?" Bruce asked in a stilted tone, prompting a sigh from the other end of the line.

"What do you want, Bruce?"

Both stayed silent for a moment, the only sound being the noise of the Bludhaven Police Station.

"Damian tried to kill to kill Tim. Again." Bruce admitted flatly.

He was horrible at asking for help and took a moment to silently acknowledge how often he took for granted his eldest's ability to decipher what he means without forcing him to verbalize it.

With another heavy sigh, he could practically see the aerialist slumping in his chair at the station.

"Alright, I'll be there by noon tomorrow. Just, maybe send Tim to the mountain or the Kent's house or something. If he isn't there, Damian can't try to kill him. Hopefully."

"He left this morning, with the coffee maker."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, Bruce."

"See you then."

"Yeah, you're welcome."

Bruce hung up and sat there for a moment. He could only pray this would work, he was running out of options. His youngest (and holy shit, he had a biological son) seemed to hate everybody. He could only hope Dick could fix things.

* * *

It worked better than Bruce hoped. 

The child still spat insults and threatened extreme violence but after several hours alone, Dick could gently remove whatever pointy object Damian had grabbed and the only response would be a scowl and a scoff.

Dick started calling his new brother 'Dami', which the child in question seemed to despise.

The acrobat was warm and friendly, treating Damian the same as his other brothers. Reaching out to spend time with him, helping with training, forcing him to participate in 'normal childhood activities' outside the manor. With each interaction the comments became less disparaging.

Then they were followed.

The pair had been on an excursion into the city for ice cream and a trip to the local art gallery when they were cornered by several reporters and photographers. Dick immediately moved to block Damian as much as possible, a charming smile slipping seamlessly onto his face.

"Hello, how can we help you?"

The child assassin rolled his eyes at how stupid the imbeciles were, not noticing the clear undertones of discomfort and annoyance in Grayson's voice.

"Mr. Grayson! Who's that with you?!"

"Is he another street child adopted by Mr. Wayne?"

"Is he another Gypsy?"

"How do you feel about Mr. Wayne adopting another child while you remain only ever his ward?"

Damian was now frowning at his supposed brother's back. He'd said a lot of things over the past few months since he met Grayson but never had he seen such a reaction from the man. The aerialist had tensed up, his smile freezing in place and his eyes loosing their usual light. That was unacceptable.

"I thought reporters had regular interactions with members of the upper class, Grayson."

Dick turned slightly towards his newest brother. He was a tad weary, but willing to play along for the moment.

"Indeed they do, Damian. There are multiple reporters in attendance at most high society gatherings."

"In that case, I do not understand how these imbeciles still hold their positions at various news outlets."

The reporters seemed stunned into silence so Dick tentatively continued to play to the child assassin's tune.

"What do you mean."

"Tt. How are these people trusted by their employers to interact with the upper class when they seem too obtuse to recognize a critical social faux-pas. Even one as young as I knows that the term 'Gypsy' is derogatory. I would think that these imbeciles would know better than to insult the first son of Gotham's most popular billionaire."

Dick quickly smothered the smirk that pulled at his lips.

"I'm sure it was just a mistake. Now come on, we should probably be heading home."

The members of the press were so shocked that the duo were able slip away, back to their car.

As soon as the door closed, Dick burst out laughing.

"That was amazing!"

Damian stubbornly pushed down the pride welling in his chest as he watched Grayson calm himself.

The next day, Damian found a new sketchbook and set of coloured pencils sitting in his room. Looking around and finding no one, he allowed a small smile to form on his face. Grayson may be the most irritating person he's met to date (perhaps barring Todd and Drake), but maybe he was tolerable.


	5. Bruce Wayne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce grew up with wealth and in turn, watched each of his sons grow up as part of Gotham’s one percent. He taught all of them how to behave in public and that the best way to deal with any insults was to deny those using them the attention that they so crave.
> 
> That doesn’t mean he always listens to his own rule.

If there was one thing that the entire Wayne family could agree on, it was that galas could burn in hell.

Jason had legally returned from the dead only about a month earlier so he was dragged along for the ride. The gala was to be the first public appearance from the Wayne’s since Jason’s return so the entire family was at the manor getting ready. Even Dick’s boyfriend would attending, a rarity in and of itself.

The golden boy had run off to Blüdhaven to be a police officer so he and Wally had mostly escaped the public eye to that point. It helped that they weren't living in Gotham, but they were still shocked at the fact that they had yet to have their relationship splashed across various magazines. That was sure to change once they attend the gala together but they figured it was time. At least all of Dick's family would be there to back them up.

Bruce stood in front of the floor length mirror in his room, adjusting his tie. A long life of parties, galas, charity benefits meant he was more than used to the exhausting song and dance of high society. With each child he took in, he taught them the steps to the dance. Some of them took to it better than others, and Dick was the best of them all. The gymnast could slip into the perfect courteous mask within seconds.

It did concern Bruce sometimes, how convincing his eldest could be. He himself was in no way the role model for emotional health but Dick had a track record of hiding his trauma to a dangerous level. Bruce usually only found out about the really bad things from Jason, Roy, or Wally. Nevertheless, the oldest of his children was strong and Wally would be there to support him.

A small knock on his door announced the arrival of said eldest child.

"Hey B, you just about ready? Jason is this close to backing out. If we don't leave now, he's most likely staying home."

"Alright, I'm coming."

Dick smirked and turned to lead the way to the front door.

"So, can we expect any feline guests tonight?"

Bruce sent a mock glare at his eldest child as they strode briskly through the halls of the manor.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What's Goldie chattering about now?" Jason called as the pair reached everyone else.

"Just the possibility of Selina making an appearance tonight."

"I don't doubt it. Miss the chance to see her kittens? As if."

Jason tried to sound exasperated but everyone knows that Selina is the closest thing all the boys have to an actual mother.

"Alright, alright, let's go. We're gonna be late."

"Finally." Jason sighed leading the way out.

* * *

The hall was decorated elegantly, as was common for Gotham's one percent. Waiters wandered calmly through the crowd on the edges as men and women in suits and floor-length dresses danced in the center.

The Wayne family garnered a lot of attention to begin with but the whispers grew as a young man with bright orange hair attached himself to the side of Richard Grayson.

Dick and Wally exchanged nervous yet reassuring smiles before moving further into the room to deal with the mandatory niceties.

"Did you see-"

"Old friends-"

"Together-"

The whispers followed the entire family through the party.

Jason stuck to the walls, his smile wooden as he used all his willpower to avoid snapping at the simpering asshats around him.

Tim mingled with some of the men with business associated with Wayne Enterprises and was able to keep the conversation away from personal relationships.

Damian stayed close to his eldest brother and the speedster, knowing that despite any judgement, the people present would know better than to insult the couple to their faces.

It was Bruce who had trouble.

When he first returned to Gotham to become the Bat, he developed the persona of 'Brucie Wayne'. No one would expect the goofy billionaire philanthropist to be the violent vigilante. When he started adopting kids he was able to ease up on the façade but it wasn't enough to stop idiots from bringing up things better left alone.

He made it about an hour or so into the event before anyone tripped up, but it still happened.

"Yes, Wally and Dick were friends for years before getting together." He said with a smile that hid his growing ire. "They've actually been together for several years now but seeing as they both have very busy jobs in Bludhaven, they haven't had the time to attend any Galas like this before. At least, not together."

"How could you let them flaunt that here?" A particularly obtuse woman asked with a sneer.

"I don't think I understand what you mean. After all, I wouldn't say your daughter was flaunting her relationship with that boy over there." Bruce said innocently, motioning to where said girl was dancing respectfully with one of the other teens present.

"Yes but my daughter isn't homosexual."

At that, he couldn't keep up the mask.

"Excuse you?"

"They are flaunting their homosexuality among proper society."

"Well, I am sorry you feel that way. I wish your husbands business the best of luck in future endeavors."

"Wh-what?"

"Well obviously you hold ideals that we at WE do not support so we will be distancing ourselves from your husbands company."

"You can't do that!"

"Of course I can. Tim!"

His third son quickly made his way over.

"Yeah, Bruce?"

"When we go to the office, remind me to cut ties with Sloane Industries."

"Of course. Any particular reason?"

Bruce looked the woman in the eye, his expression cold.

"The Sloane's seem to feel that the fact that your brother is in a romantic relationship with Wally is something to be frowned upon."

"Oh, so if Connor and Steph had accompanied me I would be looked down upon?"

"Most likely. Same would go for Jason if Roy and Kori decided to make an appearance."

Tim was shocked, usually something like that would have been where Bruce drew the line and enforced the rich kids act. However, his shock didn't even begin to compare to that of Mrs. Sloane who stood there, frozen. The shock and revulsion at the implications made mingled clearly on her face.

"Anyways, on that note, I believe we have spent enough time amongst such biggots."

"Pity," a silky voice said from behind the two bats. "It seems I've arrived only to depart again."

Tim grinned at the sight of Selina in a long, elegant dress. Her makeup flawless, the predictable yet stunning cat eyes highlighting her eyes.

"I'll go get the others," Tim said quickly before slipping back into the crowd.

"Selina, what a lovely surprise. I thought you were staying in Paris another week."

"Oh please, I'm sure you knew the minute my plane landed in Gotham."

Jason trotted up to them, wide smirk on his face.

"Selina, nice to see you, as always. Heard we're blowing this popsicle stand."

"That's right, how about you invite Roy and Kori over to the mansion."

An eyebrow raised at his adopted father and his smirk almost got wider as he noticed the vicious glint in the older man's eye.

"I'm sure they'd love that. Can Roy bring Lian?"

"Of course. If you see Tim and Damian before me, let them know that they can invite the Kent boys over as well."

"You got it Dad, meet you at the limo?"

At Bruce's nod, the second eldest followed Tim's path into the crowd.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne-"

"Mrs. Sloane, I have nothing more to say to you. You insulted my son for his romantic preferences. It would seem that my children, who have long been judged for their origins and actions, have more tact than one born of... what was it you said? Right, 'proper society'. With that said, I believe we shall be taking our leave. It hasn't been a pleasure."

Selina gladly took his offered arm and allowed him to lead her towards the exit. No one stopped them but nearly every eye followed them, news of what just happened spreading like wildfire.

As they finally reached the exit, they were joined by Dick, Wally, and Damian.

His eldest's were shining at him.

"Thanks B."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bruce said airily.

Dick smiled knowingly at his foster father before leaning into his speedster.

"Let's head home."

"I refuse to sit next to Todd." Damian stated firmly.

The entire family made their way into the limo they'd arrived in and as Bruce sat back in his seat, he allowed himself a small smile. His three younger children were bickering as usual, his eldest attempting to play mediator.

The pride he felt towards his sons was impossible to express and, not for the first time, he silently thanked the little boy from the circus who had always been such a strong, bright light in his life.


End file.
